Roaring 20s Party: A Progressive Affair

I have fantasized about doing a progressive dinner for a long time, and this one was worth the wait. Three houses. 1920s themed. The first house was all about the Speakeasy and prohibition cocktails. We progressed to a candlelit, Great Gatsby-inspired sit down dinner with Cole Porter tunes playing in the background. And ended the evening, at the third house, staged as a jazz club for dancing and plenty of more sloe gin fizzes! When guests ordered their first drink, suspender-wearing bartenders pinned them as notorious 1920s personalities--Al Capone, Zelda Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, etc.--and they had to figure out who they were. (Parlor games & ice breakers get a lot of flack, but I love them)! It was very fun to research the popular foods & cocktails of the 20s and create a menu inspired by the times. Apparently, the caesar salad was invented in the 20s, and was all the rage, so we did a grilled chopped one. Decadent shrimp cocktails and grilled rib-eyes rounded out the menu for our Gatsby-esque dinner...with plenty of champagne, of course. And with all of that drinking, no one cares about a proper plated dessert, so a candy bar featuring all of the candies invented in the 1920s was perfect. Amy made the night all the more festive with black & white and luxurious touches. Each lady received a long strand of pearls and a deco-feathered headband, all handcrafted by show-off Amy. And the napkins each featured memorable quotes from the 20s; e.g. "Write drunk. Edit sober," Ernest Hemingway. Plus the guests dressed to impressed, pulling out all the stops, which absolutely made the night. Now I'm dying to do a party for each decade, though I'm not sure anything will be as festive as the 1920s: the era of the party.

The Menu

cocktails

sloe gin fizz

sloe gin, gin, lemon, egg white, simple syrup

the colony

gin, grapefruit, maraschino cherry

french 75

gin, champagne, orange, lemon

dirty martini

vodka, dirty sue premium olive juice, olive

whiskey sour,

bourbon, house sour

appetizers

'hotsy totsy' ham ball with club crackers

'cat's pajamas' cheese straws

'racketeer' radishes

'packing a piece' peanuts

'dive' devilled eggs

sit down

spicy oregon bay shrimp cocktail,

served up

grilled caesar salad with sourdough croutons

grilled peppered rib-eye steaks

ricotta pudding. wilted spinach with pancetta. currant-pinenut relish

dessert

1920s candy bar:

abba zabas, charm suckers, reece's peanut butter cups, baby ruths, charleston chews, gummy bears, jujyfruits & milk duds

Hot. Dog. Party.

Next time you get flustered with 'what should I make for company?', skip the drama and grill some hot dogs! They are delicious. And crowd pleasing. And surprisingly unexpected. Though I technically 'made' nothing but a dip (more on that in a sec), assembling the simplest sides with fresh ingredients made for an entertaining-worthy spread. Now, why don't you hear more about sour cream and onion dip for potato chips? Did I invent it? Into the Cuisinart I threw: one Walla Walla sweet onion, two cloves of garlic, a heap of dijon and a 16oz. carton of sour cream. Top with lots of cracked pepper and snipped chives. Serve exclusively with Ruffles potato chips. It's okay to not always be farmer's market inspired. Chips and dip, hot dogs and s'more are all American classics that I never want to become too fancy for!!

The Menu

ruffles potato chips with sour cream and onion dip

grilled hot dogs with traditional condiments

corn on the cob

buttermilk coleslaw

watermelon, mint & feta salad

grilled s'mores

strawberry shortcakes

Sushi Night

Similar to Fleming's accidental discovery of penicillin, I recently discovered a new form of interactive entertaining. I invited my friends Ahna and Jen to dinner and had planned to serve homemade sushi. However, the day got away from me and an hour before their arrival, I had no sushi rolled. I calmly recalled the infamous 'taco night' formula we all grew up with and decided we could roll our own sushi. So I made the brown rice, laid out all of the fillings and put hand-roll instructions (complete with diagrams, from the back of the nori wrapper packaging) at each place setting. Miso soup and store-bought seaweed salad rounded out a "sushi night" feast. It was quite fun and I'll def do it again for a big group as interactive eating is my very favorite way to entertain: instantly engaging!

The Menu

ginger mojitos with agave

steamed edamame with sea salt

miso soup with tofu and shitakes

sesame seaweed salad with cucumbers

roll-your-own-sushi fillings:

spicy bay shrimp

salmon gravlax

salmon poke

avocado

crudites: cucumber, yellow & red peppers, asparagus, carrots

basil & mint

brown rice

soy and nori wrapping papers

soy sauce, wasabi, ginger, ponzu

Cocktail Party, Full Circle

To celebrate my high school graduation, my mom threw a lovely party catered by Elephant's Delicatessan. There was a huge spread including teriyaki salmon bites with wasabi mayo, sesame chicken satays and plenty of lemon bars. Just before the guests arrive, I came down to survey the dining room table. What I discovered led to a full blown tantrum: there was no cheese platter. "What do you mean we don't need it?" I screamed, "If we were only going to have one thing, it would be a cheese platter!" So I took action. I stormed out of the house, drove down to Wizers grocery and purchased a dozen cheeses and the appropriate accoutrements. Instead of greeting my friends, I huffily sliced baguettes and arranged grapes on a tray. Now, while this wasn't my finest moment, I realized last week just how far I've come. While planning a menu for a cocktail party, my friend suggested a cheese platter, as everyone likes it. And she's right, they do. But we didn't need it. The tomato, thai basil & mozzarella crostini plus the ricotta, stone fruit & balsamic syrup crostini were enough. The moral of the story: my mom was right. While there is always room for charcuterie and cheese, sometimes it's nice to add a little seasonal variety to cocktail fare. I even attempted to recreate Elephant's famous teriyaki salmon bites. I marinated one-inch cubes of wild Alaskan salmon in teriyaki sauce and simple roasted them on tin foil in a 500 degree oven for 5 minutes. Then, I finished them off under the broiler for one minute. For the dip, simply mix wasabi or sriracha with mayonnaise and a little lemon juice until desired spiciness. Kind of insane...like my behavior.

The Menu

teriyaki salmon bites with wasabi mayo

chicken satays with peanut sauce

smashed avocado, red pepper flakes, lemon on whole wheat toast points

tomato, thai basil and mozzarella crostini

ricotta, stone fruit, arugula and balsamic syrup crostini

sesame noodles with red peppers and scallions

green bean and chickpea salad

little gems with japanese cucumber and green goddess dressing

cookie plate

chocolate espresso, strawberry shortcake & lemon ricotta